Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Abarth & C. was officially established seventy years ago, on April 15, 1949. In celebration, this year at Geneva was a very nice grouping of Abarths (curiously minus the 750 GT Zagato and the 750 Allemano Spider, among others). Alessandro Gerelli was there last week to photograph the collection.
A 70 anniversary of Abarth also gives us the opportunity to offer a free copy of the long running Abarth Buyer’s Guide, originally published 28 years ago and in print ever since. While rumors of its demise may be premature, the current publisher may drop the book from his backlist and after all, all good things must come to an end. We ordered up a few copies before that happens and if you subscribe to VeloceToday for only $5 a month, (recurring charges via PayPal) you’ll get a free, signed copy. Shipping is free world wide, so the value is about $40. The information for the captions below were all obtained from the Abarth Buyer’s Guide, which still serves Abarth enthusiast well.
Abarth 205A. First introduced at Turin on April 5th 1951, there may have been three of these Vignale coupes constructed.
Abarth 600 record Bertone 1956, which broke long-distance records in Class H (501 to 750cc) Class I (up to 500cc) and Class G (751-1100cc) with a modified Fiat 600 engine and a body designed by Franco Scaglione.
Abarth 500 coupé Zagato. The Zagato was the ultimate version of the long list of Abarth-modified Fiat 500s, but very few of the Zagato 500s were made.
Abarth 750 spider Zagato. There were at least three different versions of the rare Zagato 750, each a bit more refined. This is the first version from 1957; the color is as unusual as the car!
Abarth 500 record Pininfarina. Spurred on by repeated class records made by the 600-based record cars, Abarth set an additional 22 records with this beautiful Pininfarina bodied car in 1958. (Yes we know it was Pinin Farina in 1958.)
Abarth Simca 1300 GT. In 1963 Abarth decided to use the stronger Simca 1000 sedan chassis to create a faster series of cars, using an all-Abarth engine, which put out about 128 hp in 1300 cc form.
Abarth Simca 2000. The ultimate Abarth Simca derivative, the 2 liter was a successful race car and won the Hillclimb Championship in 1964.
Abarth Simca 2000 engine; totally Abarth, capable of producing 190-200 hp pushing only 1500 pounds.
Abarth 1000 Sport Spider 1963. The Colucci-designed frame made the Abarth SE04 a Lotus 23 eater. It was used with a variety of engine displacements throughout the season.
Abarth 2400 coupé 1965. From 1960 to 1965 there was a variety of Ellena/Allemano six cylinder coupe and convertible Abarths based on the Fiat 2100, giving Abarth a car to compete with the Alfa 2600. This is the Allemano version.
Abarth OT 2000 America coupé 1966. According to our sources, three Fiat 850 based coupes with the full 2 liter DOHC engine were built. It developed 184 hp in that form.
Abarth 1000 SP. Our cover car for the Abarth Buyer’s Guide was the beautiful Abarth 1000 SP, one of the SE04 variations. Reportedly 50 were supposed to have been built, many with the last derivative of the Fiat 600 iron block with a DOHC head.
Abarth 2000 Sport Spider. By 1968 the SE04 had evolved into the SE10. The big 2 liter Abarth engine was still hanging out at the rear and the car was called the ‘fuoribordo’ or outboard motor.
Abarth OT 2000. The OT stood for Omologato Turismo and OT cars were based on the Fiat 850 chassis. The periscope was really just an air intake, but the few that incorporated it became known as the “Periscopio” cars. They were equipped with 1300, 1600 and 2000 cc engines.
Abarth 1000 TCR. The TC stood for Turismo Competizione, a long line of development of the basic Fiat 600. By 1968, the TC featured a new hemi-head, using short pushrods ala Bristol and Chrysler. Due to its appearance, the new head was called “Radiale” but it was pretty confusing. Horsepower eventually topped out at 112.
Abarth 595 SS. The 595 meant cc in this case; Abarth bored out the 500 to just under the 600 cc class limit. The SS version put out 32 horsepower. The 695 SS would be the last version of the Abarth modified 500 Fiats.
Abarth 3000 sport prototipo. Abarth’s V8 engine was a 2968 cc DOHC unit capable of 365 hp. It was installed in the latest mid engined Colucci chassis but never really developed.
Abarth 2000 spider prototipo. The four cylinder mid-engined Abarths were more successful, but by 1971 Abarth had been purchased by Fiat; Osella took over many of the race cars.
After many old Abarths, a new spider from Fiat.
Love that Abarth Buyer’s Guide — now a must-have classic!
Pete – I would be interested to know what happened to my old 1600 OT Berlina, which I discovered and purchased well-(ab)used from Emilio’s Foreign Cars in Santa Barbara California circa 1971 and then traded in a year later on a 1300/124.
I recognized this car from its appearance in Road and Track in 1965, when a prototype was test-driven by Griff Borgeson in Italy. My example seems to have been one of only three in the US (I was never able to learn how many were built in total) and the only one retaining its original engine. When it needed some OEM replacement parts such as a new second gear and a rear axle hub, I reached out to FAZA, whose catalog not only contained a photograph of a sister car allegedly fitted with a two-liter engine (the third car was an empty rusting shell in North Carolina) but boasted that it could quickly obtain anything and everything from the factory. I was hugely dismayed when FAZA’s proprietor blew me off. That prompted me to seek out other US Abarth enthusiasts in hopes of finding an alternative parts source. Thus the late and lamented Abarth Register was born.
After I sold the 1600, it’s next owner lost the original engine to a mechanic’s lien and it eventually wound up in the hands of a California dentist, Dr. Don Wishart, who installed it in his Abarth sports racer. The rolling chassis was fitted with a 124 twin-cam engine, and was then reportedly sold to a Japanese collector.
So…does my old car, chassis 0080, survive? What happened to the car in North Carolina and the one owned by FAZA (I won’t grace this comment with the owner’s name, he hated my guts)?
The 1600 OT’s configuration remains very popular in Europe (There’s a very entertaining website in Belgium), and from what I discovered online, more than a few 850 Berlinas have been converted to 124 twin-cam power with front radiators, big flares and Campy wheels.
The 1600OT is one of those very special cars I wish I been able to keep, but life moves on!
Perhaps the most exotic and alluring range of small car ever made. Even now I can’t which one is the most beautiful after gazing at them for years. I feel a blog article about these amazing cars must written by me very soon…
I bought a 1300 periscopio by accident from an estate sale
around franklin, tenn, 45 years ago. they also had an ogle mini on dunlop greenspots which went for $800, and some old can-am car. I wonder whose estate it was. I could never start it,but other people had no trouble. when we were in the sebring 12 hour we took it along for the vintage race; i decided to sleep in so my friend gene baker ran a few laps. after getting it back to bartlesville i couldn’t start it. when i sold it the buyer–i wasn’t there–showed up, fired it up, and drove it onto his trailer. i heard it won a race at monterey or a pebble beach award; i can’t remember which. but before that someone rebuilt the engine with the pistons in backwards…a dozen years ago the late frank manley wanted to sell me his 750 zagato spider for $27k but i was paying lawyers at the time. it was blue, had 4 tiny tailpipes, and was invited to pebble twice! and in the early ’70s there was a 2000 america in dallas for $7k asked. the owner said it ran fine but leaked some oil so i passed. bought a 3000p in the mid-’70s for under $10k; abarth sent me the complete fullsize blueprints for every part of the car…long story about them…and the car…never mind. it’s in switzerland now in a collection. is it mr. moll’s? i met him at the vernasca silver flag hillclimb 2 years ago where we ran the ’55 t-bird. wonderful event! the italians say it’s put on for the english and the english say it’s put on for the italians themselves…we stayed in a small hotel in semi-nearby soragna which has the largest selection of champagne in italy; i found one i didn’t like! ah well…
There are indeed three 205A Vignales in existence today. The silver one at the show had a strange episode in its life, when it was converted into something called the Fisher Green Star. This was auctioned in London a few years ago and purchased by someone who restored it into the magnificent specimen we see today.
The Abarth display was, without doubt, the highlight of the show.